World map in 1960

Border history

The interactive map lets you inspect named territories in 1960 and compare them to earlier or later snapshots on the timeline.

Biographical context

Meet figures alive in, or close to, 1960 and move from political geography to the people connected to the period.

Era-based reading

The related chronicles below provide long-form reading tied closely to the contemporary period.

1960 – 1965

Congo Crisis

Central Government (Lumumba, Mobutu) vs Katanga secessionists, various factions

Immediately after independence from Belgium, the Congo descended into chaos with army mutinies, the secession of mineral-rich Katanga, and Cold War proxy intervention. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was assassinated with CIA and Belgian involvement. Mobutu's eventual coup began decades of dictatorship.

Key battles and events: Katanga secession (1960); UN operations (1961-1963)

1960 – 1996

Guatemalan Civil War

Guatemalan Government & Military vs Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG)

A 36-year civil war that escalated into genocide against the indigenous Maya population in the early 1980s. The UN truth commission found the military responsible for 93% of the 200,000 deaths, including systematic massacres, forced disappearances, and scorched-earth campaigns.

Key battles and events: Ixil Triangle campaigns (1982-1983); Operation Sophia (1982)

1955 – 1972

First Sudanese Civil War

Sudanese government vs Anyanya rebels

Long insurgency in southern Sudan driven by political exclusion and fears of northern domination, ending with the Addis Ababa Agreement and temporary southern autonomy.

Key battles and events: Torit Mutiny (1955); Anyanya offensives (1960s)

1955 – 1975

Vietnam War

North Vietnam & Viet Cong vs South Vietnam & United States

The war that broke American confidence — two decades of jungle warfare, napalm, and guerrilla tactics that killed 3 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans.

Key battles and events: Tet Offensive (1968); Fall of Saigon (1975)

1954 – 1962

Algerian War of Independence

Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) vs French Republic

A brutal eight-year guerrilla war that ended 132 years of French colonial rule in Algeria. The conflict killed 300,000–1.5 million Algerians, traumatised France, toppled the Fourth Republic, and inspired anti-colonial movements worldwide.

Key battles and events: Toussaint Rouge / All Saints' Day attacks (1954); Battle of Philippeville (1955)

1952 – 1960

Mau Mau Uprising

British Colonial Government vs Kenya Land and Freedom Army (Mau Mau)

Kikuyu fighters rebelled against British colonial rule and land dispossession in Kenya. The British response included mass detention camps, torture, and forced relocations. Though militarily defeated, the uprising hastened Kenyan independence in 1963.

Key battles and events: Operation Anvil (1954); Battle of Mount Kenya forests (1953-1956)

1948 – 1960

Malayan Emergency

British & Malayan forces vs Malayan Communist Party

A communist insurgency in British Malaya that became the textbook example of successful counterinsurgency. The British 'hearts and minds' strategy — combining military operations with political reform and resettlement — defeated the insurgents and is still studied by military planners worldwide.

Key battles and events: Sungai Siput ambush (1948); Briggs Plan resettlement (1950)

1947 – 1971

Indo-Pakistani Wars

India vs Pakistan

Three major wars fought between India and Pakistan — the 1947 war over Kashmir's accession, the 1965 war triggered by Pakistani infiltration into Kashmir, and the 1971 war that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Key battles and events: First Kashmir War (1947–1949); Battle of Asal Uttar (1965)

Sichuan, China

Deng Xiaoping

1904 – 1997

Reform and Opening Up, Special Economic Zones, lifting 800 million from poverty

New York, United States

Eleanor Roosevelt

1884 – 1962

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, transforming the role of First Lady, civil rights advocacy

United States

Elvis Presley

1935 – 1977

Pioneering rock and roll, cultural icon, best-selling solo music artist in history

United States

Ernest Hemingway

1899 – 1961

Nobel Prize-winning novelist, war correspondent, pioneer of modern American prose

United States

John F. Kennedy

1917 – 1963

35th President of the United States, Cold War leader, champion of the space race

Liverpool / New York

John Lennon

1940 – 1980

Co-founder of The Beatles, solo artist, peace activist, songwriter

Built 1958 · South America

Cathedral of Brasília

Oscar Niemeyer's hyperboloid modernist cathedral of curved concrete columns

Built 1955 · South America

Basilica of Our Lady Aparecida

Largest Marian basilica in the world in São Paulo state, Brazil's national shrine drawing over 12 million pilgrims a year to the patroness of Brazil.

Built 1954 · South America

Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá

Underground Roman Catholic church carved within a salt mine near Bogotá, Colombia

Natural wonder · North America

Parícutin Volcano

Volcano that erupted from a Mexican cornfield in 1943, witnessed from birth

Built 1940 · Oceania

Te Whare Rūnanga (Waitangi)

Carved Māori meeting house at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in the Bay of Islands, built to represent all iwi of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Built 1935 · Oceania

Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo

Small Anglican memorial church on the shores of Lake Tekapo, one of New Zealand's most photographed buildings, framing the Southern Alps beyond its altar window.

United States · Artist

Elvis Presley

The King of Rock and Roll

The true story of a poor boy from Tupelo who became the most famous entertainer on Earth — and the loneliest man in Graceland.

United States · Thinker

Ernest Hemingway

The Man Who Wrote Standing Up

The life of America’s most imitated writer — from the trenches of Italy to the cafés of Paris, from the bullrings of Spain to a shotgun in Idaho.

United States · Leader

John F. Kennedy

The Thousand Days

The story of the youngest elected president in American history — from the wreck of PT-109 to the brink of nuclear war, from the promise of the New Frontier to the shots in Dallas.

Sichuan, China · Leader

Deng Xiaoping

The Architect of Modern China

Purged three times, rehabilitated three times — how a five-foot-tall pragmatist transformed China from one of the world’s poorest nations into its fastest-growing economy.